In early 1942 Len Odgers was employed as a clerk in the New Guinea Administration and was based at Wewak.

1. Handwritten diary which initially describes events in Wewak and Angoram in early 1942 at the time of the approach of the Japanese military forces. Unwilling to risk a maritime escape from the approaching Japanese, a party of eight European men undertook an overland evacuation to the Papuan coast. The party, under the leadership of Jack Thurston, departed Timbunki on the Sepik River on 14 April, proceeding up river on the vessel Thetis. On 28 April the party left the Thetis and proceeded up the May River by canoe. On 8 May the party commenced walking and arrived in the Telefomin Valley on 25 May. In late July they arrived at the Fly River where they built canoes and floated down river to the Papuan coast. On 24 September they arrived at Daru, almost six months after their departure from Angoram. The diary concludes in October 1942.
2. Typescript transcript of the diary, complete with an introduction, prepared by Odgers in April 1943.